The Conversation

Global study of pancreatic cancer offers possible insights into treatment and early detection

Written by Aatur Singhi, Professor of Anatomy and Pathology, University of Pittsburgh

Alex Trebek shown in 2006.Reed Saxon/AP Photo

When “Jeopardy!” episode 7059 aired on April 30, 2015, the category was “The Human Body,” the price was $2,000, and the clue was “This gland’s main duct, the duct of Wirsung, collects its juices & empties into the duodenum.”

The question was “What is...

Teaching in America's prisons has taught me to believe in second chances

Written by Andrea Cantora, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Baltimore

Prison education programs have been shown to lead to better employment rates for those who have served time.Elaine Thompson/AP

In 2007, I gave someone a second chance. I was in Danbury Federal Correctional Institution recruiting women for a new program for people returning from prison that I was running in New York City.

A woman approached me and...

Racists in Congress fought statehood for Hawaii, but lost that battle 60 years ago

Written by Sarah Miller Davenport, Lecturer in 20th Century US History, University of Sheffield

President Dwight Eisenhower signs the bill to make Hawaii the 50th state at the White House on March 18, 1959. AP/Charles Gorry

Sixty years ago, Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation making Hawaii America’s 50th state. The Hawaii admission act followed a centuries-old tradition in which American territories –acquired through war,...

Restoring tropical forests isn't meaningful if those forests only stand for 10 or 20 years

Written by Matthew Fagan, Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

A regenerating stand of rainforest in northern Costa Rica.Matthew Fagan, CC BY-ND

Tropical forests globally are being lost at a rate of 61,000 square miles a year. And despite conservation efforts, the global rate of loss is accelerating. In 2016 it reached a 15-year high, with 114,000 square miles cleared.

At the same time, many countries are...

Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census would cost some states their congressional seats

Written by Dudley Poston, Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University

An envelope containing a 2018 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident as part of the nation's only test run of the 2020 census.AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith

A partisan battle is brewing over the 2020 census.

In March 2018, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross instructed the U.S. Census Bureau to add a new question to the 2020 questionnaire, asking...

Automated control system caused Ethiopia crash, flight data suggests

Written by Timothy Takahashi, Professor of Practice for Aerospace Engineering, Arizona State University

Wreckage from Ethiopia Airlines Flight 302 lies near the crash site outside Addis Ababa.AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene

Emerging evidence from the recent crash in Ethiopia suggests that malfunctioning automatic control systems overwhelmed the crew and doomed the flight. Based on my analysis, it appears that the Ethiopian Airlines crew followed the standard...

Editing genes shouldn't be too scary -- unless they are the ones that get passed to future generations

Written by Eleanor Feingold, Professor of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh

Gene editing a fertilized human embryo. Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

Gene editing is one of the scarier things in the science news, but not all gene editing is the same. It matters whether researchers edit “somatic” cells or “germline” cells.

Germline cells are the ones that propogate into an entire organism – either...

Marijuana is a lot more than just THC - a pharmacologist looks at the untapped healing compounds

Written by James David Adams, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California

Assorted cannabis bud strains.Roxana Gonzalez/Shutterstock.com

Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states as of November 2018. Yet the federal government still insists marijuana has no legal use and is easy to abuse. In the meantime, medical marijuana dispensaries have an increasing array of products available for pain, anxiety, sex and more.

The...

Why a college admissions racket would funnel bribes through a fake charity

Written by Sarah Webber, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, University of Dayton

Many people aided by the campus admissions scheme wanted to attend the University of Southern California.AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Federal authorities are prosecuting dozens of suspects in the biggest college admissions scandal ever exposed. The joint FBI and IRS investigation, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues,” uncovered millions of dollars...

Why rich parents are more likely to be unethical

Written by David M. Mayer, Professor of Management & Organizations, University of Michigan

William 'Rick' Singer founder of the Edge College & Career Network, pleaded guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.AP Photo/Steven Senne

Federal attorneys have arrested 50 people in a college admission scam that allowed wealthy parents to buy their kids’ admission to elite universities. Prosecutors found...